Incumbent Chilliwack-Kent MLA offered congratulations as NDP’s Kelli Paddon has all but sealed her victory with more than 8,200 votes.
“I just called our new MLA Kelli Paddon to congratulate her on her convincing victory in Chilliwack-Kent, to wish her every success as she serves her constituents and to offer her all my assistance in the transition,” The ex-Liberal candidate tweeted late Saturday afternoon.
It has been my life's joy to serve the riding of Chilliwack-Kent for 7.5 years. Thank you to all my staff, volunteers, donors, constituents, political colleagues, and the many, many friends I have made through the years. What an enormous privilege! #bcpoli
— Laurie Throness (@LaurieThroness) November 7, 2020
Live Results (Updated Saturday, 3:39 p.m.)
Kelli Paddon (NDP): 8,267
Laurie Throness (Independent, Incumbent): 6,964
Jason Lum (Independent): 5,370
Jeff Hammersmark (Green): 1,822
Eli Gagné (Libertarian): 278
RELATED: Recap: Narrow preliminary lead for the NDP in Chilliwack-Kent, mail-ins to be counted
Gap for the lead: 1,303
Total counted: 22,701
Requested mail-in ballots: 7,650
Total mail-ins counted: 7,091
Going into the Friday, Paddon led by a small margin of 195 votes over incumbent and ex-BC Liberal Throness, 5,199 to 5,004. Independent candidate Jason Lum followed with 3,842 votes.
“Just have to win about 85 per cent of the mail-ins… no problem,” joked Lum ahead of the Friday count.
Paddon thanked the volunteers who helped her campaign for their commitment and thanked her supporters as well.
Jeff Hammersmark (BC Greens) and Eli Gagné (Libertarian) round off the five candidates with 1,326 and 239 votes, respectively. More than 15,000 votes were counted by Election Day on Oct. 24.
Elections BC explains there are several different types of absentee ballots that are counted at final count, including ballots cast at district electoral offices and ballots cast outside the voter’s electoral district of residence. Results will be updated on the Elections BC website on an ongoing basis during the counting process, and at the end of each counting day. Counting is expected to continue until 6 p.m. each day until final count is complete, but counting hours may vary by district to ensure that final count is completed as soon as possible.
RELATED: B.C. Elections: 6,400 mail-in ballots received for Chilliwack-Kent so far
Results are available on the Elections BC website under the Provincial Elections tab.
Watch this story for updates.
– With files from Jessica Peters and Adam Louis
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